Method of manufacturing shovels



7 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

Patented Apr.'27', 1886.

INVENTOR. WW

WITNESSES N. PErERs, Phomuum mpher wan nglon D c (No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. M. MYERS.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOVELS. No. 340,597. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

WITNESSES: I NVENTOR. a d I Nv PETERS, Pholo-Ulmgnphur, Washingicll. ac

(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. M. MYERS.

METHOD 01-" MANUFACTURING SHOVELS.

No. 340,597. Patented Apr. 27; 1886.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

(No Model.) eeeeeeeeeeeeee 4.

H. M. MYERS.

METHOD OF MANUFAGTURING SHOVELS.

No. 340,597. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 5.

H. M. MYERS.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOVELS. No. 340,597. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR. W

(No Model.) 7 SheetsSheet 6. H. M.'MYERS.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOVELS. No. 340,597. PatentedA 1*.2'7, 1886.

WITNESSES INVBNTOR.

N. PETERS. Fhololilhugmpher. Washin ton, 0.1).

H. M. MYERS. METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOVELS.

Patented Apr. 27,1886.

III

HIL I v Iii. .ill=lli I INVENTUR.

llNITED STATES HENRY M. MYERS, OF BEAVER FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA.

I METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOVELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,597, dated April 27, 18216.

Application filed February 11,1885. Serial N0.155,654. (No model.)

To a ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY M. MvEns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Manufacturing Shovels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In the art of making shovels the great desideratum of the manufacturer is to produce the article with facility and by the employment'of as little skilled labor as possible, so that he can furnish the trade with shovels at the minimum of cost.

In the present state of the art the manner of constructing shovels is such that a large amount of the labor employed is skilled labor, and the process of forming the shovel-blade and its handle-straps consumesmuch time,and their production is costly.

The object of my improvementis to dispense with most of the skilled labor now employed in the making of shovels, scoops, and spades, and to produce them with facility and at diminished cost, which is accomplished by the method hereinafter described, consisting'in heating a billet of metal in a furnace, breaking said billet down by means of a pair of rolls, forming it into a bar of predetermined width and thickness by means ofanother pair of rolls, then cutting from said bar blanks for shovels by means of a blank-cutting machine, splitting the tang of said blank and forming the socket for the wooden handle, breaking down and partially reducing said blank by means of a pair of breaking-down rolls, further reducing the blank by means of a pair of finishingrolls, and finally pointing the reduced blank by means of apair of eccentric rolls, the whole being accomplished at one heat and one continuous operation, as consecutively stated, whereby a shovel is made to the trimming 0r shearing point.

To enable others skilled in the art with which my invention is most nearly connected to make and use it, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, which form Fig. 2 represents a verof a machine for cutting the blanks for shov- 6o els. Fig. 4. is a perspective view of a bar ofa predetermined thickness and width from which the blanks for shovels are cut with the mini-mum waste of stock. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a blank for making the shovel cut from said bar in the manner indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a machine employed to split the tang of the blank and form the socket in the blank for receiving the end of the wooden handle. V Fig. 7 is a perspective View ofthe blank after its tang has been split and the socket formed therein. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a pair of rcducingrolls for partially rolling down the blank shown in Fig. 7. front elevation of a pair of rolls for the further reduction of the blank. Fig. 10 is a top view or plan of the blank when rolled out. Fig. 11

is a perspective view of a pair of rolls, repre- Fig. 9 is a senting the manner of introducing the blank between the rolls hereinbefore mentioned.

7 The several instrumentalities hereinbefore mentioned and shown may be of any known construction and operation, and are not claimed as being of my invention, separately considered.

The furnace for heating the billet of metal shown in Fig. 2 is located as represented in the diagram, Fig. 1, and marked 1, with relation to the bar-mills, (marked 2 and 3,)

which are used for the purpose of reducing the billet of metal to bars of a predetermined thickness and width, as indicated in Fig. 4. The bar after passing from the mill (marked 3) is conveyed to the blank-cutting machine, 5

(marked at in the diagram, and shown in Fig. 3,) and is cntinto a series of blanks,which are removed to the splittingmachine, (marked 5 in the diagram, and shown in Fig. 6,) which machine splits the tang Act the blank 13, rco

(shown in Fig. 5,) and forms the socket therein for the lower end of the wooden handle of the shovel, as indicated in Fig. 7. A little cinder is then placed in the socket and between the two parts of the split tangs, to prevent their welding together while undergoing the rolling process. The blank is then removed to the rolls, (marked 6 in the diagram, and represented in Fig. 8,)between which the blank is passed several times, and partially reduced in thickness and increased in length. From this pair of rolls the partially-reduced blank is removed to the finishing-rolls, (marked 7 in the diagram, and represented in Fig. 9,) and passed between them until the blank is reduced to its desired thickness and length, and if it is desired to point the blank it is removed to a pair of eccentric rolls and pointed, which operation is well understood in analogous arts.

The blank shown in Fig. 7 is always entered between the rolls with the tang entering first, as shown in Fig. 11, and rolled lengthwise of the blank or blade of the shovel and its handle-straps in coutradistinction to the usual plan of rolling the blank transversely or at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis of the blade and its handle-straps.

It has been found by experience that if the tang is not entered first between the rolls in the rolling of the blank they will spread laterally, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 10.

The blank after having been properly reduced, as hereinbefore described, is subjected to the shearing or trimming process well known in the art to which my invention relates, and is afterward given its desired form by suitable dies, provided with its wooden handle, and finished in any of the usual or preferred ways.

The rolls represented in Figs. 8 and 9 are of the construction required whenit is desired to have the shovel-blade and handle-straps with increased thickness in the center throughout the length of the blade and straps, and diminishing in thickness toward the edges thereof, in which case the curved recess in the roll or rolls of Fig. 8, designated as the breakdown roll in the diagram, is greater than the curved recess of the roll or rolls of Fig. 9, designated as finisher-rolls in said diagram.

Experience has demonstrated that this difference between the two mills or sets of rolls is a necessity in the reducing process hereinbefore described, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art of rolling metals; but when it is desired to have the shovel-blades of uniform thickness plain rolls will be substituted for the rolls shown in the drawings.

The blank employed in my method of making shovels, and shown in Fig. 5, is, from the end 0 to D, equal in length to the desired width of the shovel-blade.

My invention comprehends in its scope starting with the blank shown in Figs. 5 or 7, as an article of manufacture, heating it in a furnace and conducting it through the several steps hereinbefore enumerated to produce a shovel, and also starting with the bar shown in Fig. 4, cutting the blanks, and then conducting them through the steps described.

In the method hereinbefore described it is contemplated to commence the operation of making shovels by heating a billet of metal, reducit to bars, (shown in Fig. 4,) cutting the blank, (shown in Figs. 5 and 7,) and reducing it to the proper width and thickness to form a rolled shovel, or to commence with the bar shown in Fig. 4., or to commence with the blank shown in Figs. 5 and 7, and conductit through the steps enumerated at one heat and one continuous operation, thereby producing a shovel of superior quality at a greatly reduced cost of manufacture, and with the employment of unskilled labor.

It will be observed by reference to the diagram shown in Fig. 1 that an auxiliary furnace (marked 9) is indicated, the function of which is to retain the heat in the blank in the operation of reducing it should any break in the continuity of the operation occur.

By the method for manufacturing shovels hereinbefore described the manufacturer is enabled by five men and one boy to do the work formerly requiring the labor of twentyfive men-that is to say, five men and one boy will carry forward the making of shovels, spades, or scoops to the shearing-point in less time than could be done by twenty-five men with the best means and skill known to the art, and produce a better article, have less defective shovels, and at the same time dispense with a large number of furnaces, tilt and steam hammers, and their attendant noise, economize fuel and room, and in addition to these advantages the shovels will be more easily polished and have a finer finish, thereby making them more salable.

The blanks shown in Figs. 4.- and 10 and the plant employed in the production thereof are claimed in other applications for Letters Patent of even date.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I herein claim is The improvement in the art of making shovels to the shearing-point hereinbefore described, which consists in heating a billet of metal, rolling it into bars of a predetermined width and thickness, cutting blanks for shovels from said bars, splitting the tang of the blank and forming the socket for the handle at the same operation, breaking down and reducing the blank, and finally pointing the blank, the several steps being performed consecutively under one heating of the metal and one continuous operation, substantially as set forth and described.

HENRY M. MYERS.

\Vitnesses:

JAMES J. J OHNSTON, WM. W. S. DYRE. 

